About this project

Clustered - a strategic pattern recognition card game

$4,536

pledged of $2,500 goal

198

backers

Clustered is an easy-to-learn strategy card game that is fun for the whole family! During the game, players will make moves according to the symbols on the cards in their hands. The symbols on Clustered cards vary by shape, fill type, and number. Challenge your pattern recognition skills by playing cards that share attributes in common with neighboring cards on the board. Carefully choose where to play in order to either score points for yourself or block your opponents from doing so. Each card you cluster together in a row or a square will get you a point. Simply score more points than the other players to win. It’s anyone’s game until the last card is played!

1 start card

4 uniquely colored decks of 29 cards. Each deck contains the following cards:

The symbols
depicted on an individual card determine where the card can be placed. The
symbols have three different attributes, which vary from card to card: shape
(square, triangle, or circle), fill type (hollow, dashed lines, or solid), and
number (one, two, or three symbols). A card must be played so that it is sharing at least one edge with another card that is already on the table. To place a card on the table, all
neighboring cards must share at least two of the three symbol attributes in
common with the card being played. Players’ decks contain every combination of
each of the three symbol attributes, totaling 27 cards.

Each deck also
contains two wild cards (pictured below). Wild cards can be played next to any
other card in the deck, and players need not assign a specific value to the
card. In other words, the wild card can have up to four cards of any kind
bordering it at a given time without any conflicts.

Scoring:

Scoring takes place when all players’ cards have been played or discarded; this would signify the end of the game.

Lines:

Players get 1 point for each card in a line that is 3 cards or longer. Lines can be vertical or horizontal, but not diagonal. The lines must be uninterrupted to get points. A line is considered uninterrupted if it is made up of only a single player’s cards (i.e., no opponents’ cards fall within it). If another player’s card interrupts the line, it must be scored as two separate lines.

Largest Rectangle:

Players get points equal to the number of cards that make up their largest uninterrupted rectangle. A rectangle is considered uninterrupted if it is made up of only a single player’s cards (i.e., no opponents’ cards fall within it). The rectangle must have two or more cards on each side to qualify for points. In addition, the rectangle may have uneven side lengths. For example, a 3X2-card rectangle would be worth 6 points.

Example of Scoring:

Winning:

The player with the highest score after all the cards have been played or discarded wins.

Give to charity - for every 250 backers, Sculpin Games will donate a case of 32 games to one of the charities listed here:
Click for list of charities and more information about them
Click for list of charities and more information about them

Click for list of charities and more information about them

Versatile number of players - a game of Clustered can be played with 1-4 players. As the number of players increases so does the competition for space and to block and be blocked! Clustered also plays great as a solo player game; try and beat your high score and post it to an online scoreboard.

Versatile playing environment - the game play changes based on the surface you are playing on. The surface will limit how far you can play in any one direction. Playing on a small surface will keep play tight and make it more competitive.

Color blind friendly - the 4 colors were carefully chosen to be high contrast colors for people with all forms of color blindness.

No language restriction on game play - since the cards are simply just shapes there is no advantage or restriction or who can play based on a players known language. The instructions are only in English at this point but in future printings the instructions could be converted as well.

Stimulate your brain - Clustered will keep your brain sharp. Through complex strategy and planning ahead the game play will keep you thinking until your last card is played.

A great game for the whole family - games that are fun and challenging for the whole family are rare. Simple rules make Clustered easy to learn while the opportunity for complex strategy keeps it interesting!

"All and all this game is really fun...and if you like games that require a little bit of thinking and a lot a bit of strategy you will enjoy Clustered" -Unfiltered Gamer

"If you are looking for a new interesting family frinedly game that is quick and doesn't take a lot of room on your self look for it in Clustered." -Never Bored Gaming

"Takes 5 mins to learn like the box said and its super simple, but its a surprisingly deep strategic game." - The Kwarenteen

Shipping for a single game is $5 ($10 for 2 games) to anywhere in the US. Domestic fulfillment will be done through a very large top notch fulfillment agency. Guaranteeing Clustered will get to you safe, sound, and in a timely manner. There will be discounted shipping for multiple games. Message us for pricing on more then one game.

International:

Shipping a single game to any where in Canada will be $10 ($15 for 2 games). Shipping a single game to the rest of the world will be a flat rate of $15 ($20 for 2 games). We have lined up a top notch fulfillment agency to take care of the international backers as well. Again, we guarantee that Clustered will get to you safe, sound, and in a timely manner.

*if the stretch goal for a second game is reached some additional shipping will be applied to get the second game to backers.

Sculpin Games is a Portland Oregon based board game design company. Clustered is our second game to hit Kickstarter. We successfully funded The Horrible Truth, an adult themed party game, in June of 2016. Since then Sculpin Games has been working on several games as well as developing the business side. Clustered is one of the games that shined through as having a ton of potential. We decided to pursue it first and now here we are. We are very excited by the prospect of Clustered becoming a household name. We are hoping to host tournaments as well as host a high score board on our website to share Clustered with the world and develop a strong community.

Here at Sculpin Games we think that it is important to give back to the community. We believe that children are the foundation of a strong future community. With this in mind, we added the tier and the stretch goal to get games donated to children’s groups in the Portland area. For every 250 backers (at any tier level) Sculpin Games will donate a case of 32 games to several local children’s charities (list here). By backing Clustered, you are not only getting a great game, but are also helping to give to children in need.

I hope that you can share in our vision for making great (but more importantly fun) games. We appreciate anything you can do to support Sculpin Games and Clustered through backing our Kickstarter or helping spread the word through social media!

Risks and challenges

The risks and challenges for the production and delivery of Clustered are minimal. We are very confident in our manufacturer Panda Game Manufacturers. PandaGM has made many high quality top tier games. In addition to being confident in PandaGM’s ability, I have worked with them on our first game The Horrible Truth to get a high quality game produced in a quick turnaround. With The Horrible Truth, we were able to successfully implement new techniques that PandaGM had not done before. Clustered will be a much more straightforward manufacturing process. The main difficulty comes with timing the delivery of the rewards. The manufacturing, shipping, and customs processes have many steps that can have issues out of our control. With that being said, we have learned a great deal from our first Kickstarter campaign. The biggest delays for The Horrible Truth came from the file approval process. To make sure this does not happen again we will have the files pre-approved before the Kickstarter campaign has concluded. Sculpin Games is confident that we will be able to deliver a high quality game by the dates that we say. We are excited to bring a high quality, fun, and challenging game to you. Thanks for supporting Sculpin Games and Clustered!

Kickstarter is not a store.

Pledge $20 or more
About $20

Clustered - get one give one

Get a copy of Clustered, a digital copy, and any stretch goals reached. In addition we will donate a copy of Clustered to support children (see http://www.sculpingames.com/Clustered+Kickstarter+Charities.html for the full list). Your name will go up on the Sculpin Games website as a thank you for donating a game as well.

Kickstarter is not a store.

Pledge $120 or more
About $120

Retailer

Be one of the first stores to sell Clustered! Get 16 games of Clustered at a reseller's price of $7.50. To get additional copies just add $7.50 for each one. Shipping will be calculated at the end of the campaign based on quantity and location. No shipping fees for retailers in the Portland, Oregon area; delivery or pickup can be arranged.